


Supernatural 3.11 review

by yourlibrarian



Series: Supernatural Reviews [14]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode Review, Episode: s03e11 Mystery Spot, Gen, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 10:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30104706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Originally posted February 15, 2008
Series: Supernatural Reviews [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202249
Kudos: 1
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	Supernatural 3.11 review

Man, just when you think you're not going to get anything for Valentine's Day, your show comes out of nowhere and drops the biggest box of chocolates you could hope for, right in your lap.

As disappointed as I was with the wasted opportunities and oddball decisions last week, I'm not sure I could be any happier with Mystery Spot this week. I figured from previews we might get something lighthearted but this had a bit of everything in the mix. I think this could be the best episode all season (and one of the best in the series), but I'd love it if they proved me wrong!

So, why is this such a good episode? For starters because it took a familiar concept and gave it the SPN spin. The Groundhog Day concept (or at least the time loop one) has been used in umpteen places. But at least in the film, the point was that Bill Murray learned over time to connect with people, to savor moments, to question his priorities, and ultimately to become a better person. That's apparently what the Trickster wanted Sam to do. But, uh, he did pretty much the opposite of all that. Although he knew a lot about people in the diner, for example, you don't get the sense he connected with any of them. In fact it's Dean who gets Sam to pay attention to the missing man's daughter ("100 Tuesdays and you never bothered to check what she was holding in her hands?"), and he's the one who tries to pet the dog (not that that turned out all that well…) Sam didn't seem to savor moments with Dean, instead spending all the screentime that we saw trying to figure out what was going on. His priority was to save Dean and that never changed. And as for becoming a better person? RealBobby might have told Sam he broke his heart too.

I loved that.

So, apart from the overall theme, the episode gave us a variety of other things. Because the concept had to focus on the mundane we finally got what I, at least, have been waiting a while for -– a little glimpse into their everyday routines. I know tooth brushing and gargling seems like a silly thing to get excited about, but little details about their characters is one of the things I find SPN's been lacking, especially lately. And music talk! ("No Asia?" "Yeah, I know, this station sucks.") Besides, who doesn't love lip-synching Dean? It's one of those goofball moments that Dean does at least in part just because he wants to annoy Sam. There's also all the things they brought back, even if just in passing. For all the womanizing Dean's supposed to be doing this season we haven't been seeing much of it, have we? Except for the twins in the opening moments (and his aborted efforts with Lisa), Dean might have been as celibate as Sam. But I guess that bra got in his duffel somehow.

Of course it's not just the little details about Sam and Dean. How amused am I that Mr. Pickett is urged to "drive safely" as he walks out? Or that Sam suggests Doris improve her archery skills? For that matter, how nice is it to see a diner waitress that does not look like a supermodel, and to have the pretty blonde not flash her boobs at us? How nice is it to have an episode that focuses on Sam and Dean even in the teaser? (And boy, did we get a nice long segment before the commercial break). Oh yeah, baby, we are spe-shul!

Another bit that made me laugh -- we finally see the return of the EMF meter. One thing I'd noticed was how this had practically vanished in the last year and I was going to write about it in a meta post comparing the seasons. But here it is, unearthed from the depths of the Impala! Despite having seen the previews I wasn't expecting Dean to get shot just then, but it was a good bit, both for its being a totally stupid thing to happen, and because JA and JP did such a nice job with it.

Speaking of which, if anyone had still managed to miss JP's development as an actor up until now, this episode almost made a point of rubbing our noses in it. He had to run the gamut from A to Z and even the Cyrillic alphabet here and he did it well. And Jensen was no slouch either. It was a delight to see lighthearted, flirty, self-confident Dean back again, being goofy and deliberately irritating without being stupid. There were some wonderful JA moments where you can see his concern and confusion, but his trust in Sam still shines through. I've got to believe both of them could tell what a good script this was and raised their game accordingly (anyone else squeal with delight at their marvelous joint-speak scene?) I'll bet Kim Manners called dibsies too. Kudos to Jeremy Carver for not only writing a good story, but getting the characters down so beautifully.

Exhibit No. 1: "So, did it look cool, like in the movies?" "You peed yourself."

So, we start out with a mystery and then we spiral into a fairly hilarious set of scenes with Dean dying in every one. Who ever thought Dean's death could become so comical? (Side note: I'd like to find a diner that serves honking big sausages like that. Is that a Canadian thing?) And then we move back into case-mode, with Sam in a mix of angry despair, and Dean doing his best to deal with what's getting tossed in his lap. How amusing is it, though, that as Sam's pointing out how nothing ever changes that morning that it should happen to be raining this time around? Not to mention cold enough in the daytime in (air quotes) Ft. Lauderdale that they can see their breath. Talk about ballsy, writing an episode set in south Florida during the Canadian winter.

Anyone else think that Hasselback's daughter looked a bit like Mary?

Exhibit No. 2: "You're right, it is just desserts." Not only did Dean's lines tip watchers off that the Trickster was back, but the line led Sam to look at the pancake syrup and unravel who he was. Let's hear it for smart Sam, and for not insulting the audience's intelligence either.

Maybe it was just me but when Dean's finally shot on Wednesday and Sam closes his eyes, I thought for a moment we were about to see a resurgence of his abilities at this critical moment. But how poignant instead that Sam is desperately trying to make it all a dream, and to go back into the loop.

And next comes one of the reasons I never want to be spoiled. Not only did I not see Dean being shot for good, I'd never have expected to see Sam on his own afterwards. I think they did a nice job with the montage, cramming into a few moments a lot of key details that gave us enough to go on while still leaving us a lot to think about. And on the small details, we finally get a shot of the Winchesters treating their own wounds and sewing stitches. I've read this so many times in fic one would expect to have seen it a dozen times on the show, yet as far as I can remember this is the only time it's appeared at all. Also, anyone else notice the sign behind Sam at the motel? I suppose the Cock and Balls would have been pushing the point. The only off moment in the whole episode was that shot of Sam sitting straight up in bed. It was overdone. We get that Sam has become an obsessed killing machine, but I'll bet even John Winchester simply stared at the ceiling when he woke up. Robotic was the wrong way to go.

(Sekrit message to the producers: The stitches scene does not count as a topless Winchester moment, ok? Thx.)

Another small misstep I think, was saying that the Mystery Spot was the last place where the Trickster worked his magic. Because either he hasn't used his magic since in the ensuing 9 months or year or however long since Dean died, or, even if Bobby meant the last time before Dean died it would have been either outside the diner or when Dean was shot (and I'm not clear that Dean's actual death was something he was responsible for). But maybe that was just the Trickster slipping up and one of the ways Sam figures out it's not Bobby. In this episode it's possible it's actually subtlety.

I didn't figure out it wasn't Bobby at first. In fact, for a moment I was wondering if my speculation in 3.10 had been on the money and Bobby really was going to be sacrificed for Dean. But that speech didn't sound enough like Bobby to me either –- I'd rather expect him to slap Sam upside the head or maybe even put Sam down if he thought he was getting that dangerous.

The Trickster had rather a lot of nerve calling Sam dysfunctional after everything he's put him through. I think most people would have been flat out crazy by then. Also, did anyone else get déjà vu when he asks for Dean back? Change his shirt and he looked just like he did in WIaWSNB when he pleaded with Dean not to stab himself. The next few lines were full of both in-jokes (the Cro-Magnon skull) and unexpected meta ("The way you two keep sacrificing yourselves for each other?").

What I liked about the montage bit is that there were several things in it which seemed to be on the page that fans expected it to go. At the same time things are so open and vague (there's no clear idea even how long it was) that people are going to be able to play with it all summer long as we wait for S4. Because it isn't just that Sam went solo and kept hunting. It's that Dean actually _went to hell_. Which is why I think it's significant that Dean didn't just get brought back a year (several, who knows) after his death, but they went back in time to where he'd never gone there. He's the one who lucked out by not remembering what, for him, never happened.

As I mentioned above, I think the whole point was to take this story which was uplifting and a morality tale and turn it on its head. Because my first thought after I saw the episode was to wonder why they'd gone this route. After all this is supposed to be a horror show, and while one may or may not find it all that scary, there's nothing horror based about a Groundhog Day story. And then it occurred to me that they turned it into one -- a story where the guy doesn't learn anything, and maybe he becomes a changed man, but not for the better. Instead the experience turns a relatively good guy into a stone-hearted killer by traumatizing him. I thought it was genius, really.

They had the concept and were then trying to figure out how to make it work. Plus it was a story with humor elements to it and the Trickster is (I suspect) a popular character they wanted to bring back. Bingo, the Trickster is the only entity we've seen that can make something like this happen so he becomes the instigator. So I agree that, depending on your view of him, this idea of his doesn't seem in character. Then again, it appears he's seen the future. As we saw with the gods in the Christmas episode, they're not always happy about the changes humanity goes through, because even they're not immune to them. But I think the show's always been pretty behind the idea of free will, and perhaps even a god can't force you to do something. My impression is that he's trying to get Sam to let Dean go because if he doesn't things are going to go a very ugly route for a lot of people.

If I remember right, just before the piano fell on Dean, he was telling Sam that if the two of them decided he wasn't going to die then it wasn't going to happen. Of course he was talking about the day's loop. But I thought it might be indicative of Sam being willing to change history just to avoid losing Dean. (Kind of the reverse of the Edith Keeler and Buffy S2 storylines). And the Trickster's actions were his way of rubbing it in Sam's face that he wasn't that powerful, he's not a god like the Trickster himself, and he couldn't change things no matter how much he wanted to.

Heh to "Back in Time." And hello fangirls, we finally got a hug. Who knew the words "It's Wednesday" could be made so heartbreaking? Loved that scene with both, and the fact that Dean was surprised but not averse to Sam's affection.

I don't think Sam was living in a dream world, even though he said that to Dean. The first few loops Sam didn't even want to tell Dean he'd died in the earlier days. In part I think it's because he assumes that won't go over well, and perhaps also because he doesn't want to hear Dean making jokes about it (as he ends up doing). In the same vein, I don't think he wants Dean to know that he was off on his own for many months and get asked what he did or how it is that Dean's now alive again. He wants to forget about that. So he passes it off as a dream. Had the original loop simply ended after a few rounds, I think he'd have done the same.

Another possibility is that Sam is slowly losing memories of what actually happened to him. It's not that it was a dream, it's that it's starting to become fuzzy and disappear even to him. That would be kinder, but I'm guessing that since he didn't forget any of the loops, and Dean didn't forget the last one either, that's not actually the case.

However when the Trickster returned them to that day, he was putting Sam back in time before Dean died. So none of the changes Sam made after that wouldn't have happened yet. He wouldn't have the scar, the car wouldn't be changed and anything he killed would still be alive.

I think what other people have written about the Trickster's motivations are close to the mark -- the arrogance he usually targets was present in the idea that Sam could change something immutable (Dean's deal) just because he wanted to. After all, this is all about getting Sam to accept Dean's death, which he never does. So it could be the Trickster was messing with them purely because he found them intriguing (and for an immortal guy, he's got time to spare), or because he felt that it was important for some reason we don't yet know, that Sam let Dean go. If I had to guess I'd say it's because his efforts to bring Dean back would bring back a demon Dean, but I don't know that the show would go there.

This episode is also the gift that's going to keep on giving. Let me count the ways:

1) An entire year of canon solo-Sam (well, it was more than 6 months anyway, not to mention the at least 6 months of time looping). Did he hunt down Bela for the Colt? Did he go ahead and shoot her (in private)? Did he shoot Ruby? Whatever he did, it wasn't to take charge of the demon army and that wouldn't have made her happy. He might also have done it because he discovered she could do nothing about Dean's deal. I don't think Sam was ready to walk out and kill someone without having done it before. He might have been choosy about his victim, but given what he said to Dean in Folsom ("Innocent?"), I think Sam might have found quite a few excuses to kill someone. Assuming he didn't start by hunting down Dean's killer.

2) Whatever's going to happen to Dean, I'm fairly sure it's not going to be any of the options we've seen, nor are we going to see Sam actually going solo. Because it's already been done here. Let the speculation continue.

3) The show may drop the ball on this, but I've got to believe that the Sam we now know is a radically different person than he was even earlier this season. This is a man who suffered through the trauma of seeing Dean die in hundreds of ways. He was intimidating the Mystery Spot owner after 2 cycles and he was hacking apart the building in desperation several more later. No matter how accustomed he is to gore, tragedy, and horror, and no matter how dulled he seemed to become to it, there's no way he came out of this experience anything like normal. He also knows (even if we never do) what he did during that AU year when he must have believed deep in his heart that Dean just wasn't coming back. Even if it's only in fanfic, that character shift leaves a mountain to be explored. (First idea, what if John had lost his kids as well, would he have been like Sam here?)

4) Did we know Sam could pick pockets?

5) With all the talk going around this season about the nature of demons, the revelation that they're mutated humans, etc., I've yet to see anyone discuss where gods fit into this. The Trickster is far more powerful than any demon we've ever seen. He could take Sam back to a time before the hellgate was opened, before Jake stabbed him, before Dean's deal was made, before John escaped and the YED was killed. What are gods, where did they come from?

6) Also, does the Trickster know something about Sam? He only goes for arrogant jerks after all. Between this and Pride in 3.01 I think some things are getting spelled out pretty clearly. And he did warn Sam that things were going to end badly. Was Dean's death what was meant to happen, or was it the Trickster's doing? Did he play around with Sam because he knew Dean was going to die anyway? Or was he trying to help Sam by preventing him from following the wrong path, one that was going to work out badly for everyone?

7) When did Sam figure out it wasn't Bobby? The way he was cold when he arrived could have either been indicative of Sam being impervious to any kind of feeling, or it could have been that he suspected the setup from the first. He seemed moved when Bobby offered to sacrifice himself, but I think even if Sam knew it wasn't Bobby the idea would have both touched and upset him. Witness the way he was afraid he really had killed the wrong person.

8) When are we going to see the first fanfic exploring how the "clowns or midgets" line got started?

Thanks show, I loved it (holds out empty box). Can we have some more?


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